Holiday feeling as parade passes off peacefully

Portadown: Several thousand Orangemen took part in the Grand Orange Lodge of Armagh annual Twelfth celebrations in Portadown…

Portadown: Several thousand Orangemen took part in the Grand Orange Lodge of Armagh annual Twelfth celebrations in Portadown yesterday.

From early morning spectators began gathering along the four mile parade route through Portadown town centre to the demonstration field on the Armagh Road.

Orange lodges from Keady, Bessbrook, Loughgall, Lurgan, and Richhill were marched through the "Orange citadel".

There was a more relaxed atmosphere than usual in Portadown with stilt walkers, clowns and cartoon characters mixing with the Orangemen and spectators.

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Gone were the tensions of the past 48 hours as the Orangemen basked in the sunshine of their "Glorious Twelfth".

There were more Lambeg drums than in previous years and the streets of Portadown reverberated to the thunderous sound of the drums as the marchers made their way along the parade route.

Among those taking part in the Co Armagh parade was the newly elected Democratic Unionist Party MP for Upper Bann, David Simpson.

Earlier in the day he had criticised a decision to cancel trains bringing Orangemen from Lurgan to the Portadown parade.

Trains had been halted because of a suspect bomb alert on the line between Moira and Lisburn.

However, there was a strong feeling that the local rail company should have provided the service to the Co Armagh town.

Following the conclusion of the formal proceedings the hundreds of bands and the Orange lodges made the return journey in soaring temperatures back through Portadown town centre before dispersing and returning home.

There was a holiday atmosphere throughout the day in Portadown as thousands watched the parade, which passed off without any incident.